


Like Bacteria, We Grow

by Living_Free



Series: Slip and Slide [19]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred reminisces, Batfamily, Bruce is very emotional, Bruce was a chunky baby, Crack, Damian has started to form his empire, Dick and Wally adopt a baby, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Jason Todd is Highly Responsible, Terry the baby, Tim is very rich, Wally and Jason bonding, batbros, his mom is so proud, macho weeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 16:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17665793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Living_Free/pseuds/Living_Free
Summary: Dick and Wally embrace parenthood.Jason embraces his duties.Bruce is leaking emotions,And I don't care about DC canon.





	Like Bacteria, We Grow

It would never stop being strange, Bruce thought to himself, to see Jason and Dick as adults, with their own families and with adult responsibilities. He could certainly imagine it of Dick - the boy had been a man for some time now. But Jason-

Bruce couldn't stop thinking of Jason as that sassy little fifteen year old that he lad loved and lost and loved again. He saw his little boy when Jason laughed, that mirthful gleam in his eye. When Tim gave Jason a new firearm, and they put their heads together over new schematics. 

He saw the adult when Jason took himself, Damian, and Tim to college in the family car. When Jason cashed his paycheck. When Jason went home to his husband, or when he bought groceries. When he got up early in the morning to help Dick make breakfast. When he and Dick put their heads together and talked about their husbands, giggling, or sometimes more seriously. When Jason comandeered Dick into helping him move furniture into his main safehouse, because Jason had furniture now, and a spouse, and apparently, a functional relationship with Dick. 

When he had just adopted Jason, Bruce had been at his wits end to see his two sons at loggerheads. They were brothers, Bruce thought, they should love each other. Dick tried, with his usual smothering brand of love, trying to compensae for his initial resistance against Jason's presence. Jason rebuffed it, in the throes of puberty and his own paranoia. 

They were meant to be adults, Bruce realized one day. They had fallen into an easy love and brotherhood, bonding over their shared responsibilities as husbands, and older brothers, and heroes.

***

Unlike Bruce, Dick had accepted Jason's transition into a full blown adult with ease. It was nice to see his thorny, tetchy, little brother grow into a more mellow, mature man. He could trust Jason with his secrets in a way he could not burden Tim or Damian or Cass, Dick realized. In return, Dick took on the worst of Jason's doubts and insecurities, his loving anchor that he could be open with without fear of judgement. 

So it was no surprise that when they were washing the dishes one afternoon - Alfred had been banished to take care of his arthritic fingers - that Dick squiggled closer to Jason with a smile on his face and brimming with the kind of energy that a secret usually brought with it.

Jason saw Dick from his peripheral vision, and puffed himself out like a pufferfish to deter his mindless affection. 

Predictably, it did not work, as Dick took it as an invitation to lay his head on Jason's shoulder. "Little Wing, I have something to tell you."

Jason finished drying the last of the dishes and grunted. "What?"

Dick took Jason's hand and steered him upstairs. They stopped at Damian's room, where he was 'babysitting' little Jon Kent. Damian emphasized that he was a full *eleven* years old, and Jon was only a puny *seven* years old, and was thus his carer and guardian during the time that Clark and Lois left Jon with him so that they could go an a date. 

Damian was once again wearing his royal silk robes, and teaching Jon how to glide royally across the floor. "Observe my footfalls, Little Kent," Damian directed to the wide-eyed boy. "One must walk gently, to create the illusion of gliding," and here Damian took a few steps, "thusly."

Jon made a valiant effort to copy Damian. "Gliding across the floor..." Jon focused, "thisly."

"Thusly."

"Thisly."

"Good lord, Little Kent."

Dick and Jason walked away quietly, sniggering to themselves. When they reached the sitting room, they let their laughter evolve into full bellied guffaws. "Oh my god, Damian's face," Jason sniggered. "Why does he insist on wearing princess robes to formal occasions?"

"They're his traditional clothing," Dick said. "He's trying to get Jon to wear it more often as well. I think that he wants to be a big brother, to pass on his knowledge."

"He's eleven, he doesn't have knowledge. He doesn't even have acne yet, he's too young," Jason countered. 

"Nevertheless," Dick said, "I think Damian wants a little brother."

Jason raised his eyebrows at the earnest undertone to Dick's words. "Huh. So let's say that he does want a younger brother. What're you going to do about it, Dickie?"

Dick blushed and bounced excitedly on the spot, emitting small squeaks of excitement. "Wally and I are going to adopt a baby!" He whispered shrilly. "I wanted you to be the first to know!"

Distantly, Jason felt his jaw unhinge and possibly leave his face. "Y-you adopted? A baby?"

Dick nodded, his dark locks flying with the sheer force of his joy. "Uh huh! We've wanted a baby for ages, but Bruce wanted us to get married first, but the paperwork was already filed! We got a call yesterday, and they're going to give us a baby boy!"

Jason couldn't help the delighted laugh that bubbled out of his mouth at the news. He puled Dick into a hug and didn't even mind when Dick stuffed his nose into his chest. "Damn, Dickie," he choked out, "this family just keeps multiplying like..."

"Bunnies?"

"Bacteria."

"But you'll help me get everyone on board? We want to have a family meeting tonight and break the news."

Jason clapped Dick on the shoulder. "You know what, Dick?" Jason said, clapping his eager, cow-eyed brother on the shoulder. "Consider it done."

***

Post-patrol that night, Jason held his family hostage in the Batcave, on threat of crying if anyone left. 

"Fine, we won't leave," Bruce said, narrowing his eyes at Jason, "but can you at least tell me why Clark is here?"

At the mention of his name, Clark looked up and waved. In a domino reaction, Jon also waved, and Kon as well, drawing back the hand that was heading to cup Tim's pert bottom.

"Because Dick insists that they're family," Jason said. "And really, this has to do with him and his big announcement."

Everyone fell into whispers about what the big announcement could be about. Was Dick going to move out of Wayne Manor to Central City? Were they going to have to kill Wally? Was Dick going to reveal that he was an evil clone of the original Dick Grayson who had been kidnapped and being held hostage in a far away land, and that they had to go and rescue him?

The doors slid open and Dick and Wally walked in, hand in hand, beaming at the accumulated Waynes and Kents and Pennyworth. 

"Hi everyone," Dick said. "Thanks for waiting up for us! And special thanks to Jason who kept everyone here!"

"Mention not," Jason grinned, and pushed Bruce off of his chair so that he could colonize it with his arse instead.

"We have been waiting for the right time to make this announcement," Wally said breathlessly, his hands gesturing rapidly, "and we can finally tell you now, that..." Wally and Dick glanced at each other, clearly about to lose their minds with joy.

"We're adopting a baby!"

Alfred wavered where he stood, and Damian rushed to support the elderly man. Bruce, for once, had nothing to say, and was too shocked to react, even when Clark hugged him and called him 'grandpa'. 

"Oh, I say," Alfred gasped, as he was helped into Jason's vacated seat. "I say." His grandchildren milled about and fanned him with pages of crime reports. Alfred quickly regained his poise and cleared his throat. "A great-grandchild," he said quietly, a genuine smile wrinkling his otherwise stoic face. "What a lovely thought. Smashing job, Master Richard."

Dick pulled out a phone and showed everyone a picture of a tiny ball of blankets and wisps black hair atop a perfectly round head with adorably scrunched up features. "This is Terrence Grayson-Wayne-West," he said. "The paperwork was finalized yesterday, and tomorrow, Wally and I get to bring him home!"

What proceeded to occur was a mini-explosion of sorts. Alfred shot up like a rabbit and proceeded to sprint up to the old nursery to clean, Timothy started to set up a trust fund, Damian called his mother and asked her to send over some of his 'most superior infancy robes for my nephew, please, Mother'. Cass, who despised Talia with the force of a thousand suns, stormed out to buy her nephew baby clothes before Clark pointed out that it was two in the morning and that all shops were closed.

"Stephanie," Cassandra said.

"Yeah?"

"Amazon."

"Yeah! C'mon, let's use Tim's account.'

Bruce sat down and cried, because Dick was a father, and he had his first grandchild, he had actually lived long enough to see his grandchild, life was great.

In the commotion of Stephanie, Cass, and Clark cooing over booties, Dick snagged Jason and drew him into the corner. "We wanted to ask you," Dick whispered, his eyes gleaming, "to be Terry's godfather. My first sibling for my first child."

Jason looked at Wally, who was nodding earnestly. "We know that you're the best choice for godfather. You'll put Terry above anything and everything else, you'll love him more than-"

Wally never completed his sentence as Jason fell upon him in a hug, and they cried manfully on each other. Seeing his husband and his Little Wing sharing emotions, Dick also stared crying. 

Overall, it was a very wet and very happy night at Wayne Manor. 

***

The Waynes caused a minor traffic jam the next morning as they, the Kents, and the Gordons all descended upon the hospital to pick up baby Terry from the neonatal ward. 

Terrence Grayson-Wayne-West was placed into his parents' arms in a fluffy white blanket, and peered up at his fathers through pale blue eyes. He puckered his tiny lips instantly, and Alfred swung into action, having come ready with a bottle. 

"You should hold him first, Alfie," Dick said, passing the baby over. "He's your first great-grandchild."

Alfred looked absolutely smitten. "Oh my," he said emotionally. "The last time I held an infant was with Master Bruce. And he was such a hefty baby, weren't you Master Bruce? Eleven pounds! He must have lost half that weight with his first excretion, though-"

"Alfred, please," Bruce said, horrified, as Stephanie recorded the conversation for posterity's sake. "Not in front of all of Gotham."

Terry was passed to Bruce next, who gently stroked a sausage-like finger down the baby's cheek. "Hello, Terrence," Bruce whispered, completely enamored. "I've got a little Robin onesie for you."

"Oh my god, he's determining a baby's legacy," Tim said, and swiftly snagged the baby away. "Hey-yuh, Terry. I'm your rich uncle Timmy. I will teach you business ethics and also how to hack every mainframe. Also, I made you a trust fund."

"And I am your beloved uncle Damian Al-Ghul Wayne, first of the name," Damian said, peering over Tim's shoulder. "I will teach you everything that I know, and give to you all that I hold dear."

Cass slithered over to her brothers and looked intently at the baby. "I am best aunt Cass," she said clearly, and then put the tip of her nose on the crown of Terry's tiny hair, messing up his cowlick. Immediately, her action was mimicked by Tim and Damian, eager to not be outdone.

At the heightened nasal contact, Terry squirmed unhappily, and Jason sailed in to rescue his godson. Cradling the tiny morsel of a babe in his arms, Jason looked absolutely amazed. "Hey there, Terry Berry," Jason crooned. Immediately Terry stopped flailing his tiny fists in the air and stared at Jason with wide, bemused, blue eyes. "Did your stupid uncles and aunts bother you? Don't you worry about them, Godfather Jason's gotcha now."

"What!" Damian exclaimed. "Why is Todd godfather!"

"Yeah, I'm rich!" Tim emphasized, whipping out a ten dollar bill from...well.

"I want to be godfather," Cass grumbled. 

Ignoring his siblings, Dick met Bruce's eyes and together, they looked at Jason. Standing in the halo cast by the tubelight, cradling his nephew and looking for all the world like nothing would ever disrupt his moment of complete and utter love and bliss, he could have been an angel holding his little charge. Bruce had never thought that Jason was beautiful - that was always Dick - but he had been proven a fool before. 

He was happy to be called a fool now and forevermore, if only Jason - and the rest of his children - could be this happy forevermore. 

He would find a way, Bruce thought to himself. Nothing would ever touch his family's happiness ever again. No matter what.


End file.
